Metal cabinet hinge



Sept. 18, 1945.

4 a. A. STONE 2,385,169

METAL CABINET HINGE Filed June 2, 1944 W51. 25 I II III I I:

INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 18, 1945 METAL CABINET HINGE Roy A. Stone, Rockford, Ill., asslgnor to National Lock Company, Rockford, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Application June 2 1944, Serial No. 538,349

4 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges, and more particularly to light hinges of suitable design for mounting cabinet doors and the like on sheet metal cabinets.

Hinges of this character consist of pivotally connected leaves, one of which is adapted to be attached to the door and the other to the metal door frame, with the pivotal connection between the leaves located substantially in the plane of the outer face of the door, so that, when the door is swung open through an arc of 180, it will be disposed in spaced relation to the door frame. This arrangement enables two cabinets to be disposed side by side without interfering with the complete opening of the doors. 7

In mounting hinges of this character upon the door frame, the practice is to provide a slot in the door frame for each hinge and project the door leaf of the hinge and the extension of the cabinet leaf to which the door leaf is pivoted outwardly through said slot from the interior of the cabinet.

The cabinet leaf of the hinge comprises a flatlbase adapted to be disposed against the inner face of the door frame wall, where it is secured by screws or other fastening means. This base, however, has heretofore been of such shape ,and dimensions as to preclude its insertion through the slot or opening in the door frame. In many types of cabinets the insertion of the hinge leaves through the slot or opening from the inside of the cabinet .was a difiicult and laborious task, and in through the hinge opening of the door frame, is not restricted in shape by such opening, but is made to conform in size and contour with the hinge opening of the door so as to form a complete closure for such opening.

Other advantages of my invention will be ap preciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a metal door mounted on a metal cabinet by means of a pair of my novel hinges;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the position of the hinge parts when the door is open;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line [-4 of V Fig.

some types of cabinets where the frame construction was such as to obstruct a hinge opening or slot, the use of this type of hinge was entirely precluded by the inability tomount it. My present invention overcomes the difficulties encountered in the mounting of hinges of this type as heretofore constructed, by providing a hinge in which the base instead of the door leaf is adapted to be inserted throughthe hinge slot and from the exterior of the cabinet inwardly instead of from the interior outwardly, as heretofore.

- Another objection to-hinges of this character heretofore employed was that the door leaf of the hinge, in order to be capable of being inserted through the hinge opening in the cabinet, was required to be of such shape and dimensions that when attached to the door it failed to completely close or cover thehinge receiving opening at the corner of the door, with the result that an opening permitting air circulation and the entrance of dust and dirt within the door was left.-

- The door lead of the hinge of my present invention, since it is not required to be inserted Fig. 5 illustrates the initial position of a hinge in mounting it upon a cabinet;

'Fig. 6 illustrates a succeeding position of the hinge during installation; and

Fig. '7 illustrates the final position in which the cabinet leaf of the hinge is mounted.

On the drawing reference character 8 indicates a portion of the frame of the cabinet upon which the door indicated generally by 9 is mounted. The hinges, of which two or more are employed, consist each of two pivotally connected leaves which will be herein referred to as the cabinet leaf II and the door leaf l2, respectively.

The cabinet leaf is formed from fiat metal stock to provide a base l3 of angular construction having a right-angled inner corner and an arcuate outer corner, the base being provided with tapped screw holes l4. One end of the base is bent at right angle to provide an extension l5 projecting from the base. It will be observed that the cabinet leaf is of uniform width from end to end and is adapted to be inserted through an elongated opening or hinge slot l6 formed in the door frame 8.

The door leaf H of the hinge comprises a head l1 which is pivotally connected with the extension I5 of the cabinet leaf by a pivot pin l8 riveted at the ends, as indicated in Fig. 3. A washer I 9 interposed between the extension l5 and the head I! serves to reduce the friction between these members and prevents bindin in case of slight distortion of either of the members. An extension 2| be inserted beneath the end rail 22 of the door 9.

from the head I! is adapted to This extension is preferably onset slightly from the head it along the line 23, as illustrated. It will be observed that the extension 2! is narrower than the head ii, so that the projection at one side of the head permits the pivot pin 68 to be disposed substantially in the plane of the outer face of the door and the extension 25 at the other side of the head provides a shoulder is which abuts against a shoulder in the inner wall of the door, formed by removing a portion of the door structure to permit the insertion of the hinge extension 26 into the interior of the door ior attachment to the end rail by means of the screws 26. Thus the opening produced bynotching out the corner of the door for the reception of the'door leaf of the hinge is completely covered and closed by the head ll of the leaf.

In mounting my improved hinge upon a metal cabinet provided with hinge openings or slots is, the procedure illustrated in Figs. 5 to 7, inclusive, is followed. In the first step of mounting the hinge, instead of projecting the door leaf and the horizontal extension of the cabinet leaf outwardly through the slot it from the inside of the cabinet, as has heretofore been customary, the base portion of the cabinet leaf is inserted through the slot in into the cabinet from the outside. Referring first to Fig. 5, it will be apparent that with the hinge in the position there indicated the end of the base may be projected through the slot until the right angle of the base engages the outer face of the door frame. The hinge is then swung in a counter-clockwise direction about the inner end of the slot it, as a center, from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6,

this swinging movement being permitted by the arcuate shape of the base, as indicated by reference character it, the radius of the arc being slightly less than the length of the slot iii. The length of that portionof the base which is first projected inwardly through the slot is determined by the free space in the cabinet back of the door frame. 'That is to say, if suficient free space is available, the length of that portion of the base may be considerably greater, if desired, than that disclosed in the illustrative drawing. After the base has been inserted entirely through the slot iii, in the manner above described, the hinge is swung upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in'Fig. 7, thus bringing the base fiat against the inner face of the cabinet door frame where it is securely anchored by means of screws 2?.

After the bases of the hinges have been mounted on the cabinet in the manner explained, the extensions 2i oi the door leaves are inserted inside the top and bottom rail 22 of the door, where they are secured in position by the screws 2%, as previously explained. It will be apparent, therefore, that the entire mounting of a door on a cabinet is effected from the outside of the cabinet without projecting a hinge from the inside of the cabinet outwardly through an opening, and, in fact, without even reaching inside the cabinet.

The size, shape and proportion of the various parts may be obviously varied within considerable limits without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the following claims:

I claim:

1. A hinge for mounting metal cabinet doors, comprising a leaf consisting of a base adapted to said frame with said aseaiee be mounted fiat against the inner trace of a sheet metal wall and an extension projecting at a right angle irom the base through an opening in said wall, said base being of substantially the same width as the extension and consisting of an upright portion and a lateral projection insertable through a horizontal slot in a cabinet wall. and a leaf consisting of a head pivotally connected to the outer end of said extension and proportioned to close the hinge opening in a hollow metal door and an extension projecting from and parallel with said head and adapted to be received in and connected to an end rail of such door. 1

2. A hinge for mounting metal cabinet doors, comprising a cabinet leaf having a flat base including a vertical portion and a laterally ex tending portion disposed in the plane of the ver= tical portiomboth of said portions being adapted to lie fiat against the inner face of a cabinet wall and an extension projecting at a right angle from said vertical portion, said leaf being oi substantially uniform width and thickness from end to end, and a door leaf comprising a head pivotally connected with said extension of the cabinet leaf and an extension from said head adapted to be secured to a door rail, the head of said door leaf being wider than the extension therefrom to close the hinge opening in the door and em able the pivotal connection between said leaves to be disposed substantially in the plane oi outer face or the door.

3. A door hinge adapted to be mounted on a cabinet including a sheet metal door frame provided with a horizontal hinge slot, said hinge comprising a pair of pivotally connected leaves, one of said leaves consisting of a flat base including a vertically extending portion and a hcri= zontallyprojecting portion and a flat extermion projecting at a right angle from the upper end of said vertically extending portion, said base being of angular form having a rounded corner and proportioned to be inserted through said slot and, mounted flat against the inner race of extension projecting through said slot and outwardly from said frame, the other of said leaves being shaped for attach= ment to a door for said frame.

4. A hinge adapted to be mounted on cabinet having a sheet metal door frame provided with a horizontally disposed hinge slot, a pair or" pivotally connected leaves, one of? said leaves comprising a flat L-shaped base ,Vilig a curved exterior corner and proportio inserted through said slot and an eaten projecting from one end or said base ri angles to the plane or" the base, said base being adapted to be secured to the inner face of cabinet wall, the other or said leaves comprising a head and an extension adapted to be secured to the inner face of the end rail of a hollow metal door, said head being of greater width than said extension to completely close a notched opening in the door provided for the reception of the hinge, the outer nd of said head extending beyond the 'outer face of said door to enable the pivot pin by which said leaves are connected to be disposed substantially in the plane of the outer face of the door.

ROY A. STONE. 

